ROTA Special Volunteer Appeal

Dear Rotary Volunteers

Please see mail form Rtn Yash Das and respond positively if interested. 

kd

Dear DGEs,

It was a pleasure meeting you all in Delhi for the Rotary News Trust meeting. I was very happy to see the smooth manner in which we selected representatives on the body of the Rotary News Trust. I do hope that most of the concerns and issues pertaining to the DGN selection pilot were addressed during the meeting. If you still have any please address them to Jatinder at the Rotary South Asia Office and he will repond promptly.

I am forwarding to you an appeal from ROTA (Reach Out To Africa) committee chair. Please form a pool of medical volunteers in your respective districts so that their skills can be utilised in Africa where there is a desperate need.

I will appreciate if you could share your respective list of volunteers (mentioning their special skills such as plastic surgery or ortheopedist etc.) with me, once it has been compiled.

Please do respond this mail.

Wish you all the very best for your year as we together will work for Peace Through Service.

Warm and personal regards.

Yash Das 
RI Director (2011-13)

http://www.ypdas.com/

Dear Yash, [If you missed these appeals in our previous edition, please take a moment to read.]Two special appeals for volunteers.First, Reconstructive surgeons in Rwanda are needed. Please forward this appeal widely to Rotary clubs and to the medical profession. Surgeons, anesthetists, nurses and other non-medical support staff will be needed. See the message from Past Rotary International President Raja Saboo below.Second, NID volunteers are needed. Polio still exists in the world. Many children in developed countries are no longer being immunized and therefore are at risk of infection from travelers to endemic countries. The only way to eradicate this crippling disease is to immunize all children in the world. Rotary International has been leading this effort for more than 25 years. With cooperation from World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and many world governments,success is near. Volunteer teams are needed. No medical expertise is required. See the list of NIDs (National Immunization Days) below and consider being a part of this historic effort. You will always be glad you did.

An Appeal for Plastic Surgeons to Help in Rwanda [Rotary leaders from all countries are asked to distribute this appeal widely.] At the request of the Health Minister of Rwanda, a medical mission is contemplated for a group of plastic surgeons to repair damaged bodies resulting from the unrest there in the mid 1990's. Past Rotary International President Raja Saboo will be organizing a group of doctors from India and would welcome surgeons from other countries to build a truly international team. PRIP Saboo expects that the medical mission would take place some time between mid-November 2012 and be completed by mid-April 2013. The actual length of time a surgeon would remain in Rwanda would will also depend upon the suitability of the host country, our own team building process and the funding arrangement. Inquiries should be sent to PRIP Saboo.rksaboo@kddl.com For , see the following message sent from Rwanda by PRIP Saboo: "Last night we had a major Rotary event at which the Health Minister of Rwanda was present. This was the third meeting we had with her in the course of our stay. She was extraordinarily helpful and friendly person who has not spared any words to admire and praise Rotary. She gave a challenge and I think she was also speaking on behalf of the President and the First Lady of the country. What she spoke very emotionally is something that we need to pay attention to. As you may know, Rwanda went through genocide in which more than a million people were butchered in hundred days. Those stories are just horrible and one cannot have enough courage to listen to all of them. Anyway the health minister indicated that there are at least 2900 such people who have been disfigured bodily, their faces totally distorted and their appearance being so gruesome that they have confined themselves to their homes and are not able to come out of their houses so as not to show their body or faces to the public. The other side of it is that the government is also afraid that if they would come out, their appearance itself might trigger a revengeful action which might lead to yet another violence, disturbing the very articulated peace process that the country is going through. Can Rotary do something for them? This was the question that the Health Minister put. I discussed this matter with the Rotarians of Rwanda including Governor Fred ne Tiabu Tatukila who happens to belong to Congo and they are all excited about it." back to top

Polio NID Dates Announced: Volunteers Needed! Many people have asked about the next opportunities to participate in National Polio Immunization Days (NID). We all hope that soon we will see the worldwide eradication of this dread disabling disease. Until then, the children of the world will not be safe and the 25 year signature humanitarian mission of Rotary International must go forward. Volunteers from other countries are always appreciated by onsite Rotarians. Thousands of people who have gone on previous NIDs will always remember putting the drops of polio vaccine into the mouths of young children. No Medical experience is required. The following dates for Nigeria were provided by the Evanston office of Dr. Carol Pandak. Anyone who wishes to be a part of one of these highly rewarding humanitarian events may get more information from ROTA West Region Chairman Chief Michael Olawale-Cole at olawacole@yahoo.com or from Carol Pandak at carol.pandak@rotary.org. NID volunteers travel at their own expense and with groups of like-minded volunteers. Scheduled dates in Nigeria 30TH JUNE - 3RD JULY 2012 - Sub National Immunization Plus Days (High Risk States only) 11TH - 14TH AUGUST, 2012 - Sub National Immunization Plus Days (High Risk States only) 6TH - 9TH OCTOBER, 2012 - Sub National Immunization Plus Days (High Risk States only) 1ST - 4TH DECEMBER, 2012 - Sub National Immunization Plus Days (High Risk States only) More about African NIDs: ROTA South Region Chair June Weber has provided a chart from the World Health Organization (WHO) showing proposed NID dates up to May of 2013. Using this information, interested volunteers can contact local Rotarians for more information. Click here to see the WHO chart. back to top